An incident before the 35th over of India’s second innings at Lord’s triggered debates over Twitter as England fieldsman Rory Burns was seen stepping on the ball with his shoe. Immediately questions followed whether it was a deliberate attempt by Burns and fast bowler Mark Wood to do ball tampering? Even former India batsman turned […]
An incident before the 35th over of India’s second innings at Lord’s triggered debates over Twitter as England fieldsman Rory Burns was seen stepping on the ball with his shoe. Immediately questions followed whether it was a deliberate attempt by Burns and fast bowler Mark Wood to do ball tampering?
Even former India batsman turned popular commentator, Aakash Chopra, wondered if Burns and Robinson had toed the line and tried to alter the condition of the ball via an illegal mean.
Chopra posted a query tweet in this context immediately after the broadcasters showed footage of Robinson initially tapping the ball towards Burns with his spikes on and then the close-in fielder also almost rubbing the back of his shoe on the cricket ball.
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Ball tampering, eh? #EngvInd
— Wear a Mask. Stay Safe, India (@cricketaakash) August 15, 2021
England fast bowler Stuart Broad, who is not playing at Lord’s because of injury, however, offered a view completely in contrast to of the Indian fans and even argued with some of the them that it was not deliberate on Burns’ part.
Stuart Broad argues against Indian fans after accusations that England tampered with the ball.
My comments are- Woody tried to nut meg Burnsy by tapping the ball through his legs (a very common occurrence) & he missed and kicked the ball there by accident. Instead of screenshotting the pic, watch the video- quite plain & easy to see
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 15, 2021
See my past comments. Watch the video. Of course it’s wasn’t.
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 15, 2021
As I’m sure you’re aware form watching the full footage- it wasn’t deliberate was it. End of Story
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 15, 2021
With ball-tampering being a contentious topic since the 2018 Cape Town incident involving the tainted trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, Twitterati was quick to raise a question mark on England fielders’ intentions, even though some of the fans argued in the contrary.
Ball Tampering
— GurPreet ChAudhary (@GuriChaudhary77) August 15, 2021
I Will be shocked if these English players get overlooked by the referee for a clear rule violation of by presing the ball with spikes.
— Sojal (@Lost_guy01) August 15, 2021
Trying to make something out of nothing here. Someone kicked the ball at Burns and he wasn’t expecting it so instinctively stopped the ball.
Nothing intentional here and definitely not ball tampering. Move on! https://t.co/YY9eqWskMZ
— Harrison (@indepthFandC) August 15, 2021
While there was no immediate activity from the on-field umpires in this regard, it remains to be seen how the officials respond to Burns’ act following close verification after the Test match. As per the ICC laws, a cricketer is liable to face a ban of minimum one Test match if found making a deliberate attempt to do ball-tampering.
Even Smith, Warner and Bancroft were suspended for one Test match only by the ICC, before Cricket Australia (CA) took its own disciplinary action against the three and banned them for elongated periods.
